Halcyon Days
by The Crownless Queen
Summary: A collection of Marauders era moments revolving around James and Lily - and often, James&Lily.
1. Amortentia

Written for Hogwarts' Around the World Event: Argentina - (potion) Amortentia.

 _Word count:_ 335

* * *

 **Amortentia**

It was funny, really, how Lily hadn't thought to expect this.

On the table before her, her Potion bubbled happily inside her cauldron, and Lily inhaled the soft, sweet scent that drifted up, letting her eyes fall shut as she allowed herself a moment to savor how perfect it was.

She smelled the forest—the earthy scent that lingered in her nostrils for days whenever she ventured under the cover of trees, a scent full of mysteries and things unknown—and Honeydukes, with a metallic undercurrent that tickled at the back of her throat like an explosion waiting to happen.

"Well, then, since yours clearly works, tell me what does it smell like for you!" Marlene, the only other Gryffindor girl to have gotten into NEWTs level Potions, asked her, jabbing a bony elbow into Lily's side mercilessly.

Eyes drifting to James, whose Potions had now started letting out threatening dark, noxious clouds, Lily smiled fondly as she took her time to answer. "It smells like love," she finally said, her smile widening into a grin when James looked up and shot her a flirty wink.

Marlene snorted. "Well, obviously—it's _Amortentia_ , dummy. It's supposed to smell like love. I'm asking what love smells like for you."

Turning to face her friend, Lily rolled her eyes. "Something tells me that you already know what I'd say."

Marlene laughed loudly, stifling it almost instantly and flashing Professor Slughorn a wide apologetic smile until he went back to his papers. "Well, Lily, you have to admit that you haven't exactly been discreet about your feelings."

Lily tried to scowl but failed, her lips twitching up helplessly. "Wasn't trying to be," she quipped, willing herself not to blush.

Despite herself, her eyes drifted toward James again, who shamelessly blew her a kiss.

"I knew it! You're totally in love with him!" Marlene cried out excitedly.

"Like I said," Lily repeated, not bothering with trying to shush her friend and instead, she breathes in the Amortentia again, "I'm not hiding anything."


	2. About First Kisses

Written for Hogwarts' Around the World Event: France - (event) first kiss.

 _Word count:_ 688

* * *

 **About First Kisses**

It's a thing Lily does: stating random stuff when they're on their dates and the silence grows a little overwhelming, or too tense.

Most of the time, it's sweet and funny, if a bit surprising. Sometimes, it unexpectedly makes James choke on air because there are things Lily has, very surprisingly, absolutely no shame about, and those are never what James thinks they will be.

But every time, it's also James' favorite quirk about the redhead who stole his heart.

Today, in between blowing on her freezing fingers to warm them up and dropping fistfuls of snow down James' back—causing the aforementioned freezing fingers—she pauses and confesses, "You were my first kiss, you know."

James loses himself in the memory—their first kiss had been so perfect (even though in itself, it had hardly been _perfect_ ) and every kiss they've shared so far has only made it more extraordinary, because it marks the beginning of the times where Lily and he _kissed_ —and like an idiot, instead of saying something like, 'It was a nice kiss', he finds himself blurting out a truth he'd sworn never to reveal.

"It doesn't really count, but Sirius was my first kiss, you know."

Lily laughs, her eyes twinkling mirthfully. "Really?"

Even though his cheeks were pretty much numb from the icy air, James feels them heat up as he blushes. "Really."

"So, why didn't it count, then?" Lily asks curiously after a short pause, shattering James' hopes that she would just let this go.

"What?"

"You said Sirius didn't count," Lily replies, smiling mischievously.

"Well, it's Sirius," James stutters out embarrassedly.

Lily hums softly, nodding, her lips still pulled into that frighteningly teasing smirk. "Did you _want_ to kiss him? Did _he_ want to kiss you?"

Shocked, James trips on a small stone hidden under the snow and stumbles, only barely escaping falling down headfirst by gripping Lily's forearm tightly. "Sorry."

"It's fine," Lily replies, waving off his concern with a smile. "Are _you_ alright?" At James' nod, her shoulders unwind and she resumes their walk. "Anyway, you were about to tell me how you ended up kissing Sirius—by the way, if you wanted to and he wanted to, I'd say that does count."

James rolls his eyes at her, but he complies—he knows better than to try to resist when Lily wants to know something. His girlfriend is merciless when it comes to that kind of things.

"We made a pact, in third year, he and I—Sirius wanted to date Marlene then, and I, err, well, I agreed to help him when he said he didn't want their first kiss to be terrible-"

"Confident, wasn't he?" Lily interjects with a laugh.

James shrugs helplessly. "Well, we are talking about Sirius here."

"Point," Lily says, nodding.

"Anyway," James says, "we ended up practicing on each other first, until it felt like we had gotten it right."

The memory of those moments is enough to bring back the flush to his cheeks, and James looks away quickly, trying to ignore Lily's ringing laughter. To tell the entire truth, James had been practicing with Lily in mind then, the same way Sirius had thought about Marlene, and from Lily's increasingly widening smirk, she knows that even if he hasn't said it.

Still, when she only hums and changes the subject, dragging him toward the Three Broomsticks, James relaxes and assumes he's safe.

He should have known better.

.

The next morning, at breakfast, Lily sits next to James, kissing his cheek absently as she reaches for the egg in a practiced gesture that never fails to makes James' heart skip a beat.

She waits until James is drinking his pumpkin juice to turn her attention to Sirius, who sits across from them. She smiles innocently at him.

"So, Sirius, I hear that you're the man to thank for James' skills in kissing?" She says it just loudly enough that only they can hear it, but Lily's laughter when James and Sirius choke on their breakfast is loud enough to echo through the entire Great Hall, and it stays with James all day.


	3. Imperio

Written for Hogwarts' Around the World Event: Iceland: (spell) Imperio.

 _Word count:_ 523

* * *

 **Imperio**

" _Imperio!"_

To the outside world, Lily freezes between one step and the next, the horror on her face easing out into a neutral expression that makes James' blood run cold.

He can't tell which Death Eater cast the spell, and there's no one around to assist him—Lily and he have been separated from the rest of the Order quite effectively, and though he can see them, there's no way they can reach him without endangering themselves.

Lily is turning around to face him now, her wand arm raised, and James barely manages to duck under the first curse she casts, her face now twisted into a hateful rictus that makes him want to die.

What is it like for her, he wonders, to have lost all control of her body? Does she even realize what she's doing now, that she's trying to kill him?

Merlin, James hopes not—he's the one with the guilt complex usually, and of all the habits of his that Lily could pick up, he really hopes that this won't be one of them.

His musings are cut short by another one of Lily's curse splashing against his shield so strongly James can feel the air vibrate.

Dimly, he can hear one of the Death Eaters laughing—the one who cast the _Imperio_ on Lily, maybe, but then again, who knows what these freaks find funny—as he recasts his shield again.

He refuses to fight his wife—and anyway, even if he did try to fight Lily, his heart wouldn't be in it, and she'd end up hitting him. At least this way, her attention stays on him and he's moderately safe.

 _(is it selfish of him to prefer she kill him over risking injuring her? it seems selfish, and James hates himself for being unable to make any other choice anyway)_

"Lily, _please_ ," he pleads. "It's me, James—please try to fight this, you know you can."

For a single, glorious instant, it seems as though it's working—Lily's forehead creases as she frowns in concentration, and she clenches her teeth forcefully—but it doesn't last.

It is only luck that saves him—by the time the battle ends and the Death Eaters Apparate away, James has basically forfeited his life.

"I forgive you," he whispers. He doesn't know if Lily can hear him, somewhere under the spell that holds her captive, and while part of him still hopes that she'll be one of the lucky people who'll never know what they did under the _Imperio_ , he also hopes she'll remember his words.

The spell snaps so suddenly and unexpectedly that James can almost hear it break. Lily's wand arm falls to her side and she blinks confusedly, as though she was waking up from a dream, and she stumbles toward James drunkenly, her wand falling to the ground with a loud clutter.

"I'm so sorry, I couldn't stop, I'm so sorry," she babbles in his ear, wrapping trembling arms around his shoulders.

Silently, James pulls her in closer, holding her tightly as he feels himself collapse in relief.

"We're gonna be okay," he whispers in her hair. "You'll see, we'll be just fine."


	4. Invisibility Cloak

Written for Hogwarts' Around the World Event: Iraq - (object) Invisibility Cloak.

 _Word count:_ 216

* * *

 **Invisibility Cloak**

"You have an Invisibility Cloak."

"Yes?"

Lily shook her head, blinking slowly in disbelief. "No, I mean, you have an _Invisibility Cloak. You_. An _Invisibility_ Cloak. And you had it while you were at Hogwarts."

James nodded cautiously, shrugging. Spread atop his knees, the Cloak pooled like shimmering liquid—it seemed too fluid, too mesmerizing somehow, to be made of actual fabric; and yet it was real. Lily could see that it was real. For some reason, that made Lily start to laugh, a desperate and slightly maniacal kind of laughter.

James rolled his eyes at her, but his lips twitched up in a smile as well. "Yes, me, at Hogwarts," he replied.

"Well, at least that finally explains how you always managed to get away with the things you did there," Lily said, half laughing, half snorting now.

James pouted. Honestly, those sound out of Lily's mouth shouldn't sound so endearing to him. "I'll have you know that we got away with it because we were amazing," he corrected.

Unimpressed, Lily arched a judging eyebrow at him. "And I'm sure the Clock didn't help with that, at all."

James lasted about thirty seconds before Lily's teasing gaze made him start squirming, and half that before he confessed. "Yes, alright, the Cloak helped. A bit."


	5. Mistake

Written for Hogwarts' Around the World Event: Dominica - (setting) Diagon Alley.

 _Word count:_ 597

* * *

 **Mistake**

"Don't turn around, but Potter's here—on your seven o'clock."

Instantly, as if compelled by some greater force she couldn't explain, Lily spun on her heels, scowling as she caught sight of the aforementioned black-haired boy, laughing with his friends.

"And I was having such a nice day, too," she complained mournfully as Mary, her shopping companion, grabbed her by the arms and forced her to turn back around.

"What was it about ' _Don't turn around'_ that was too hard for you to understand, Lily?" her friend hissed.

Lily rolled her eyes violently, and together, they ducked deeper into Flourish and Botts, slipping out of sight easily.

"Why is he even here?" Lily moaned dramatically as she leaned against the History of Magic shelf, her eyes drifting to the golden embossed letters of the first fifteen versions of Hogwarts: A History.

Mary snorted loudly, hefting up the basket half full of their schoolbooks she had been carrying on her arm with a sigh. "At a guess, I'd say he got his letter too and is now trying to get his supplies—you know, same as us," she said, tone heavily sarcastic. "You know I love you, Lily, but the world doesn't actually revolve around you," she added teasingly.

Blushing sheepishly, Lily replied, "Sorry, I know it doesn't—it's just, it's _Potter_." Se spat out the last word like it was a curse, and only rolled her eyes when it made her friend giggle.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Mary replied with a smile so sympathetic Lily would have believed it—if not for the mirthful glint in her friend's brown eyes. It was a glint she knew well after five years of friendship, and it wasn't to be trusted. "You hate him, he's in love with you-" Mary continued with a sing-song voice.

"He _thinks_ he's in love with me," Lily corrected, interrupting her. She crossed her arms, barely wincing as the gesture made her own basket bump painfully against her stomach. "He won't take ' _no'_ for an answer and he's exasperating. I am really not in the mood to give him the opportunity to start on his daily campaign of asking Lily out—or whatever that stupid endeavor of his is called—and if there was a way for me to never see him again, I'd take it."

In front of her, facing the part of the bookshop they had just left, Mary paled drastically and very, very suddenly. Lily froze, heart hammering in her chest. "He's right behind me, isn't he?"

Mutely, Mary nodded.

Lily turned around with a snarl. " _What?!_ " Her fury died a quick death, though, as she took in how small James looked, despite the way he still towered over her. Beside him, Sirius' stormy eyes seemed to drill a hole into her soul as he stared at her hatefully.

"I'll leave you be, then," James said, the defeated tone of his words a far cry from his usual bravado.

It made Lily feel sick in her stomach, how hurt James looked, but her throat felt too tight to say anything and so she could only watch as James walked away silently.

It was only once he and Sirius had vanished out of sight that it felt like the spell had been broken, and Lily could breathe again.

"What just happened?" she asked, bewildered.

Mary stared at her pityingly. "I think you just got what you asked for."

"Yeah," Lily agreed, "that's what I thought."

Then why wasn't she happy? Why did it feel so wrong, and why did James' soulful brown eyes refuse to leave her be?


	6. To Us

Written for Hogwarts' Around the World Event: Albania - (event) Anniversary and the Gobstone Club: Black Stone - Anniversary, accuracy: (character) Peter Pettigrew, power: (action) Clapping and technique: (object) Blanket.

 _Word count:_ 392

* * *

 **To Us**

"Friends, we are gathered here today to celebrate how, one year ago to this very day, Lily here-" James pointed at said redhead, who was sitting on a picnic blanket between Remus and Sirius and looked very unimpressed by James' attempt at making a speech, "-finally saw my brilliance for what it is and agreed to go on a date with me."

As James droned on, Peter leaned toward Remus. "What are we here again?" he whispered in his friend's ear. "I thought anniversaries and stuff were supposed to be, you know, kept private to the couple?"

Remus coughed in his hand to hide his laughter. "It's James," he replied in a whisper, shrugging like that explained everything—which in a way, it kind of did. "I think he couldn't resist putting on a show."

Peter snorted as he understood what Remus wasn't saying. "You mean Sirius tried to _help_ again, didn't he?"

"That he did." Remus laughed. "But don't worry—I get the feeling that Lily won't let him get away with this for much longer."

And indeed, Lily's right eyebrow kept twitching menacingly as she looked increasingly unimpressed with James' speech.

Finally, as James went on for the third time—by Peter's count—about how his 'awesomeness and perseverance' had worn out Lily's resistance to his advances, she cleared her throat, interrupting James in the middle of his sentence.

Peter breathed a sigh of relief.

"I actually seem to remember a lot of begging on your part, James," Lily said, her voice sugar sweet. "You could even say that I took pity on you." She batted her eyelashes innocently, laughing as James' face fell comically and Sirius started clapping, before blowing her boyfriend a kiss with a wink.

"Well, then I guess I should say thanks for taking pity on me," James replied, huffing out a laugh.

"I'm not regretting it so far, don't worry."

From his spot on the spread picnic blanket, Sirius let out a loud bark of laughter. "It's been a year," he pointed out mirthfully, looking at Lily with mock pity. "It's too late for you now. You can't be saved anymore. Sorry."

Snorting, Peter interjected loudly, "I don't think she wants to be saved, Padfoot."

The time, the laughter spread to everyone—and surprisingly enough, Lily wasn't the one to kick the Marauders off the blanket.

James was.


	7. Help

Written for Hogwarts' Around the World Event: Spain - (dialogue) "She's the first thing I think of in the morning and the last thing I think of at night.".

 _Word count:_ 405

* * *

 **Help**

With a loud, depressed groan, James collapsed on Sirius' bed—entirely ignoring Sirius himself, who had been sitting there reading a Muggle cars magazine he had bribed a Muggleborn kid for.

Sirius yelped as James' flailing arms barely missed his nose, and he scooted away to leave his best friend some room—only absently wondering why he let James get away with this when it was his bed was literally ten feet away.

"Prongs," he said exasperatedly, "we've talked about this. I know I'm entirely irresistible, but you do have your own bed. Please stop trying to steal mine, especially _when I'm there already_." He hissed the last part, clenching and unclenching his fists in the hope that maybe, if he calmed down, his world would make sense again.

Head burrowed deep in Sirius' pillow, James moaned incoherently.

"Sorry, didn't quite catch that," Sirius laughed. "I don't speak pillow."

With a loud sigh, James rolled over and settled on his back, eyes strained pointedly on the ceiling above him. "I said I was doomed. _Doomed_ ," he repeated with a dramatic scowl, and the 'oo' sound came out as a ghostlike wail.

"Ah," Sirius replied, nodding understandingly. "Lily."

"Yes, _Lily_ ," James sighed longingly. "It's terrible. She's the first thing I think of in the morning and the last thing I think of at night. What am I supposed to do?"

Sirius managed to keep a straight face for an impressively long time—about thirty seconds—before he dissolved into laughter. "Seems to me like you're in love," he finally said, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes quickly. His breathing was ragged from trying to contain his laughter. "My condolences."

James slapped his arm. "You're an ass."

Sirius let out a mock hurt gasp, putting his hand over his heart dramatically, like James had just dealt him a mortal blow. His shaking shoulders as he kept struggling to laugh silently betrayed him though, and James heaved a long sigh before rolling his eyes.

"What did I ever do to deserve a friend like you?" he moaned, shaking his head.

"Something great, no doubt," Sirius answered with a wide grin. "Who else would help you get the girl you want by plotting out the perfect plan, after all?"

"There's really no need for that." James chuckled nervously.

Tutting, Sirius shook his head disbelievingly at him. "I'll take care of everything, don't worry."

James sighed. "That is _exactly_ why I worry."


	8. Snowball Fight

Written for Hogwarts' Around the World Event: Brunei - (action) being chased.

 _Word count:_ 491

* * *

 **Snowball Fight**

With a startled yelp, Lily ducked down and narrowly avoided the densely packed snowball that sailed over her head and crashed into a nearby tree in a white, powdery shower.

The cold wetness she could feel spreading atop her head, dripping through her hair, told her that she hadn't escaped the sneak attack entirely unscathed, however.

"James!" she yelled, fighting down the automatic smile that wanted to spread on her lips. "Stop it!"

For all answer, a second snowball flew at, only just avoiding her shoulder. Honestly, she should have known that James was up to something like this when he had insisted they should meet outside the village instead of going to Hogsmeade together the way they usually did.

She managed to catch a glimpse of James' telltale messy black hair before a volley of snowballs forced her to flee, laughing.

Her feet pounded heavily on the snow and her breath fogged before her as she ran, keenly aware that James was running after her, chasing her.

"I'm going to catch you!" James singsonged.

"No, you're not," Lily shot back over her shoulder. James would probably turn out to be right—Lily ran fast, but James had the advantage of pelting her with snowballs which slowed her down, and he had longer legs.

In the end, James tackled her into a fluffy snow pile and Lily screamed as it started to get inside her clothing, leaving cold lines of frost to run up and down her skin.

"See?" James smirked smugly. "I did catch you."

Lily smiled at him lovingly, leaning in closer until their breaths mingled and their lips nearly touched—and then she shoved a handful of snow down James' back, laughing as he yelped and flailed away from her, only succeeding in kicking up more snow.

"Very funny, Evans," he said with a pout once he had managed to stand up and shake out the worst of the snow. "Very funny."

Lily smiled at him sunnily, biting back on her laughter. "Thank you. I thought so."

Snorting, James offered her a hand to help her up. For an instant, Lily considered using it to drag him down instead, but she was starting to grow cold and tired of the dampness of her clothes, and warming charms had nothing on actually being somewhere warm.

"That was fun," she admitted. As they started walking, she looked back at the once pristine pile of snow—now clearly disturbed. It gave her an idea, though. "Hey, do you think we can pull the same thing on Sirius next time we come here?" she asked, linking their elbows together.

James startled a little. "Probably not," he replied with a disappointed smile. "Sirius knows me—he'd see me coming a mile away."

Lily huffed out a laugh." But would he see _me_ coming?"

James turned to face her, grinning widely. It made Lily's heart skip a beat.

"You know what? I don't think he would."


	9. Seaside Fun

Written for the Around the World Event: Sudan - (season) summer.

 _Word count:_ 204

* * *

 **Seaside Fun**

It all happens very fast. One moment, Lily is happily floating on her back, enjoying the refreshing feel of the water on her skin—it contrasts nicely with the overwhelming heat of the air—and the next a hand wraps around her ankle and pulls her under.

She resurfaces spluttering, coughing up salty water as her treacherous boyfriend just laughs at her.

"What the hell was that for?" she asks with a growl, glaring at James. She kicks her legs up to stay afloat and rubs her hands over her arms to fight the chill that settled now that she's actually submerged.

James' wet hair is splattered against his forehead messily. It looks like someone dropped a handful of mud on his head, or perhaps algae. His hazel eyes sparkle with mirth as he tries to blink away the sunlight reflected upon the waves as he says, "It was fun."

Despite herself, Lily finds her lips twitching up into a smile at the ridiculous wink he adds.

She slaps him on the arm playfully and splashes him once, laughing as he curses when it gets in his eyes and mouth.

"You were right," she says, taunting him with a teasing smirk, "it _is_ fun."


	10. Ice-cream

Written for the Around the World Event: Iran: (food) ice-cream.

 _Word count:_ 209

* * *

 **Ice-cream**

James watches with a kind of fascinated horror as Lily asks Mr. Fortescue to pile up freshly-cut strawberries and caramel sauce atop the truly enormous ice-cream she's ordered. He's not sure how many flavors Lily asked for—he honestly lost track sometime after she asked for some fruity one he still doesn't know the name of—but there are enough that even Fortescue himself looks impressed and slightly concerned.

In comparison, James' own order of simple cookie dough and chocolate flavors he's asked for—which is no small thing—looks sad and pitiful.

"What?" Lily asks, hands curling around her tall dessert glass defensively.

James' mouth falls shut with an audible _click_. He knows better than to make a remark when Lily's looking at him like _that_. That way only ever ends in screaming matches and him getting slapped.

"Nothing," he replies as he guides them to a free table, half-wondering how Lily's ice-cream is actually staying inside the glass that looks way too small to hold it. "I just love you," he says, feeling a sudden rush of fondness for this woman who's agreed to share his life.

Lily's answering smile is blinding, even though the sparkle in her eyes says that his answer didn't fool her. "I love you too."


	11. The Scare

Written for the Around the World Event: Turkey - (animal) Tarantula.

 _Word count:_ 548

* * *

 **The Scare**

"LILY! _LILY!_ "

James' strident screams echo in the air. He sounds so scared and panicked that Lily's blood runs cold, and for a moment, she's utterly certain they're under attack. She runs down the stairs wand in hand, heart pounding in her chest.

When she gets downstairs, she finds James stranding on the kitchen table, body trembling as he points to a hairy thing on the paved floor.

" _Spider!_ " he yells with a strangled voice. "Lily, _help_."

Lily blinks, wand falling ather side in surprise. It takes all she has not to burst out laughing—she can in fact feel hysterical laughter bubble in her chest, itching to burst out. "Yes, I can see that," she replies, slowly stepping closer. "Why did you scream?"

James stares at her like she's lost her mind. He shakes his right hand toward the spider again, fingers shaking as it points at it. " _Spider_ ," he repeats, enunciating it slowly as though she hadn't understood him before. "Kill it, please," he begs. "Kill it _with fire_."

It's Lily's turn to stare, gaze oscillating between James and said spider—Lily thinks it might be a tarentula. It still sits there innocently, unmoving.

Lily raises an eyebrow at James doubtfully. "And why haven't you dealt with this yourself already?"

"... I don't have my wand," James admits sheepishly, offering her a blinding grin.

Lily snorts. "Why am I not surprised?"

James pouts. "I was surprised, alright? I didn't exactly expect to be ambushed by a, a monster in my own home." He crosses his arms defensively. "Otherwise, of course I would have taken care of it by now."

"Of course," Lily replies, smiling.

On the floor, the spider moves, causing James to jump back, only narrowly missing falling off the table. Lily bites her lips so hard to stop herself from laughing that she tastes blood. " _Lily!_ " James shouts, alarmed.

Lily rolls her eyes violently. "Relax, I've got this," she says as she raises her wand. " _Wingardium Leviosa_."

The spider starts to levitate, it legs beating helplessly in the air. It makes Lily's heart pang in sympathy, and she resists the urge to coo at the creature.

"Why don't we take you outside, huh?" she mutters at it, and without a second glance toward James, she escorts the tarantula outside. Once she sets it down, it scuttles out of sight quickly, and Lily smiles.

When she comes back in, James stares at her in horror. "Why didn't you kill it? Now it might come back!"

Lily rolls her eyes at him again as she helps him down the table. "Because," she retorts. "It was just a spider, James. It was probably more scared of you than you were of it."

"I doubt that," James mumbles, glaring hatefully at the empty spot on the floor where the spider had one stood.

"Well, it wasn't hurting anyone, so it didn't deserve to die," Lily replies fiercely.

James stares at her for a long moment before his lips pull up in a soft smile, shoulders unwinding from stress. "You're ridiculous, you know that, right?" he says, and the fond look in his eyes makes her heart skip a beat.

"You're worse than me," she retorts, already a little breathless.

When James kisses her, it feels like coming home.


	12. oh deer (let me in)

Written for Hogwarts' Around the World Event: Algeria - Animagus, the Herbology Assignment - Write about someone resisting something (e.g. a change) and only making the situation worse for themselves, Princess Adora - She-Ra - Write about a transformation, the Writing Club: Showtime - We Love the Prince! - (dialogue) "This is embarrassing.", Days of the Month - Housewife's Day - Write about a housewife, Count Your Buttons - (pairing) Jily, (object) welcome mat.

 _Word count:_ 831

* * *

 **oh deer (let me in)**

Lily blinked. The stag blinked back. She stepped to the right, the stag stepped to the right. She took a step to the left, the stag mirrored her. She tried to enter the house, the stag moved to block the door, standing on their welcome mat.

She tried to go to the windows, cursing the fact that they had set anti-Apparition wards over the property, forcing them to enter by the actual door instead of just popping up inside, but the stag followed her there too, blocking her way.

Finally, Lily snapped. "Oh, come on, James, I've been up for seventeen hours. I swear to you, whatever disaster you've managed to create while I was gone is so far down the list of my concerns right now that you could set the house on fire and I literally wouldn't care."

The stag froze, its face a perfect rendition of the 'deer caught in the headlights' saying. Lily stared at its familiar brown eyes, biting back a laugh and arching an eyebrow impatiently. "Well? Are you going to let me pass sometime this century?"

The transition was so smooth and fast that Lily almost missed it— one moment the stag was there, the next her sheepish and stunned husband stood before her.

"Well, this is embarrassing," he chuckled awkwardly, running a hand through his already messy hair. "How did you…?"

"How did I know you were an Animagus?" Lily asked, smirking knowingly.

James nodded mutely.

Taking a deep breath, Lily started, "Well, aside from the fact that you were nowhere to be seen and a giant stag stood on our porch, there were quite a few clues…"

James looked offended. "Clues? What clues?"

Lily rolled her eyes at him. "Well, for starters, you and Sirius are absolutely pants at keeping a secret—between the dog jokes and the deer ones, it's a wonder you haven't been found out sooner. And you were even worse at hiding what you were up to at Hogwarts-"

"Excuse you, we were great at hiding at Hogwarts," James protested, chest puffing up as he crossed his arms defensively. "No one ever figured out that we became Animagi!"

"Only because no one thought you'd be dumb enough to actually do it," Lily replied with a snort and a fond smile that said, _I love you but you're stupid sometimes_. "Because once you figured out that Remus was a werewolf—he was pretty bad at hiding it too, by the way, but at least he wasn't anywhere as bad as you guys—figuring out that Animagi were the only way to stay safe around him on the full moon was just a matter of doing some fact-checking.

"Oh, and you let the books out on the table when you tried to ask me out," she added, almost as an afterthought.

James was gaping. "That was hot."

Lily rolled her eyes and huffed out a laugh. "I can't believe that's all you managed to get from that."

"I'm sorry, but how do you expect me to focus when you get all lecture-y like that?" James lamented dramatically. "You know I have a weak spot for that."

Still laughing, Lily rose to her tiptoes and kissed her husband's cheek. "I love you too. Now let me in so I can nap and you can clean up whatever mess you've made while I sleep."

James winced as she backed him against the door. "Well, about that…"

Lily sighed tiredly and put her hands on her hips. "James… What did you do?"

" _Nothing_ ," he hastened to answer. "Nothing, it's just… I love you?" His voice came out as strangled and Lily started to fear the worst.

"James," she said in a no-nonsense kind of voice, "open the door."

James winced again but he slowly turned the handle. Lily only got a glimpse of their living-room before she had him snap the door shut again.

"Sirius thought it'd be a good idea to try to assemble Harry's nursery the Muggle way," he confessed under her questioning glare.

"Alright," she said, voice strangled and high-pitched, "you have five minutes to make it look like none of this ever happened. I will go upstairs, sleep, and when I come back down in a couple of hours, I want this mess not to be there, alright? Or you can sleep on the couch for the rest of the day for letting Sirius drag you into this mess."

James nodded enthusiastically, though Lily could see from the scheming look in his eyes that he was already plotting revenge on his best friend.

He reluctantly opened the door again, shooting her a mournful look that made her laugh. She pecked him on the lips as she ran past him, her gaze resolutely avoiding the living-room where Sirius was sheepishly looking at a three-legged crib and an instruction manual, and climbed up the stairs two by two.

 _Sleep_.

Maybe after some rest, the world would make sense again.


	13. The Little Things

Written for Hogwarts' Around the World Event: Andorra - Song: All the Small Things - Blink 182.

 _Word count:_ 228

* * *

 **The Little Things**

It was the small things that truly made Lily fall in love with James. The sound of his laughter, when it was true and shared with his friends after a prank had gone well. She had used to hate that sound, once, because it meant that they'd probably hurt or humiliated her friend again, but now that they've stopped targeting individuals, Lily can appreciate the genius that goes on behind the doors of the Marauders' pranks.

She liked the way he lisped, just a little, when he got too excited, and the way he squinted behind his glasses when he was tired. James hated it and had Sirius had made Lily swear she'd never bring attention to it, but she found it kind of cute. She thought about telling James that, but Merlin knew he was insufferable enough without knowing she found him cute.

She _loved_ the way his wand danced through the air when he cast some particularly complicated spell in Transfiguration, the way his eyes glowed with pride when it worked and Professor McGonagall congratulated him and gave him points for his success.

He looked far more graceful then than Lily ever could and she felt like she could watch him for hours.

But more than anything, she loved _him_. James Potter, with all the little things that made him who he was.


End file.
